Inversed Expression Patterns of S100A4 and E ‐cadherin in Cervical Cancers: Implication in epithelial‐mesenchymal transition

This study aims to address the above issues using cervical cancer specimens. Immunohistochemistry reveals that the levels of mesenchymal marker S100A4 is upregulated (>++) in cervical adenocarcinomas/CACs (12/16; 75%) and squamous cell carcinomas/CSCCs (23/28; 82%) than that in noncancerous glandular epithelia/GE (0/12; 0%) and squamous epithelia/SE (0/12; 0%). Epithelial marker membranous E‐cadherin is remarkably reduced on the surface of CAC and CSCC cells (P=0.00; P=0.00), especially those showing poorly differentiated phenotypes (P<0.05) in comparison with their noncancerous counterparts. Correlative analyses revealed an inverse relationship between S100A4 and E‐cadherin expression among the cervical cancer samples (P=0.01, r= ‐0.38). S100A4 expression level in HPV16‐infected group is higher than that in HPV16‐free group (P=0.02). These results suggest the close correlation of S100A4 upregulation with cervical cancer formation and HPV16 infection and E‐cadherin reduction with the grades of CC dedifferentiation. The concurrent gain of S100A4 and loss of membrane E‐cadherin suggest EMT tendency of CC cells and can be regarded as an unfavorable prognostic parameter of CC patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Source: The Anatomical Record Part B: The New Anatomist - Category: Anatomy Authors: Tags: Full Length Article Source Type: research